University of Chichester graduate Saskia Clark and teammate Hannah Mills celebrate silver in the 470 class at Weymouth
University of Chichester has joined the nation in its celebrations of Team GB's achievements at the Olympics as one of its graduates was among the medal winners.
Sailor Saskia Clark graduated in 2003 with an undergraduate degree in Sports and Exercise Science, and retains a close link with the University – an Active Sussex gold tier partner – as she and all RYA sailors regularly visit the West Sussex institution as part of their training programme.
She took silver with her sailing partner Hannah Mills in the Women's 470 sailing in Weymouth after a week of racing that saw the battle for the top spot come down to a straight fight with the crew from New Zealand, who took the gold. The medal from Saskia and Hannah helped Team GB to meet its medal target of five, which included a gold for Ben Ainslie.
Including London 2012, every medal winner in sailing for the past five Olympic Games has undertaken part of their training at Chichester through work funded by the RYA. The squad comes to the University for regular fitness assessments and general sports science input, and the institution is naturally delighted to have contributed to the success of the team this year.
It hopes to continue its track record at the Rio Olympics in 2016. As an official supplier, it provides physiology services to the pathway squads, the future Olympic champions, through a PhD student based at the RYA Performance Centre in Dorset.
The University's attention at the Olympics was on another water-based sport during the Games, as senior lecturer Dr Tim Holder is the sports psychologist for the synchronised swimming team, who also met expectations. The duet pairing and team finished ninth and sixth respectively, within their agreed target range.
All eyes are now on the Paralympics, where a current and former student will be going for glory. Masters student Ben Quilter is a favourite for gold in the judo competition, while Emma Wiggs, who completed her studies to be a PE teacher in 2004, will be part of the Great Britain Women's Sitting Volleyball team in their first-ever Olympics.
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